Cemeteries

A list of Hamilton County's active cemeteries is in The Guide including their addresses, dates of establishment, indexes and/or websites.[1] There is a map showing the locations of both current and defunct cemeteries. The Guide also has an annotated list of active and defunct burial sites compiled by Mary H. Remler. Hamilton County Genealogical Society (HCGS) has published many cemetery records. For a complete list, see HCGS Publications. In the FHL catalog, most cemetery records are cataloged in the community where they are located.

Census

U.S. Population Census Schedules

Population schedules are widely available on microfilm and on the internet for 1820-1880, 1890 Veteran’s Census, 1900-1930 including indexes of varying quality and completeness. Published indexes can be consulted if you are unsuccessful finding your ancestor in the online indexes. Tax and voter lists can serve as partial substitutes prior to 1820.

State Census

Church Records

Numerous church records are available on microfilm at both the PLCH and through the Family History Library. A list of microfilms at the PLCH is in their card catalog and in a Guide to Genealogical Resources in Cincinnati & Hamilton Co., Ohio, 6th Edition.[5] Hamilton County Genealogical Society (HCGS) has published indexes tomany church baptismal, marriage and burial records. For a complete list, see HCGS Publications and ‘TRACER, Article Index, 1979-2008’. [6]

Northwest Territorial Court 1787-1803

Court of Common Pleas/Cincinnati Municipal Court

The Hamilton County Clerk of Courts maintains the court records of Hamilton County and the Municipal court. Many of the early court records have been moved to the University of Cincinnati Archives or the Cincinnati Historical Society. The Hamilton County Clerk of Courts has the following records available on microfilm: Naturalization Records (1850-1893), Declarations of Intent (1842-1926), Court Dockets (1884-present), Certified Judgments (1884-present), Pending Suits (1884-present), Judgments (1884-present), Law Suits and Divorces (1884-1994) and Criminal and Civil Records (1884-present).[8] The Hamilton County Clerk of Courts has a searchable database of cases that indexes many of these records. Early records may only contain a list of litigants. Many cases tried after 1884 involved property or estates from earlier time periods that named litigants as 'heirs of' many early Ohio settlers.

Probate Court

Estate settlement matters were handled by different courts in different time periods. See Probate below.

The University of Cincinnati Archives holds many of the county's Court of Common Pleas and Probate Court original records. For a partial list of UC Archives holdings, see A Guide to Genealogical Resources in Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Ohio, 6th Edition[9]or Inventory of Government Documents for Eight Counties of Southwest Ohio.[10]

Hamilton Co. District Court 1851-1883

Hamilton Co. Circuit Court 1883-1912

The FHL has Hamilton County Circuit Court Records 1844-1847 with a Diary, 1856-1861 of Charles Morton as a manuscript on microfilm FHL Film 897439 Item 2.

Ohio Supreme Court 1803-present

Prior to 1851, the Ohio Supreme Court sessions involving Hamilton Co., Ohio cases were held and recorded in Hamilton County. Many of the records were lost due to courthouse fires. Prior to 1823, there was no provision for recording Ohio Supreme Court decisions. From 1823-1851 the court met annually in Columbus to review cases that decided questions of law - these sessions were referred to as the Supreme Court in bank.[11] The decisions of the Supreme Court in bank were published in a series of books titled, Cases decided in the Supreme Court of Ohio in bank. The following published court record books are available through Google books:

U.S. Federal District Court 1803-present

The U.S. Federal District Court Records from 1803-1982 are in Record Group 21 at the Chicago Branch of the NARA. The U.S. Federal District Court Records include 7 volumes of Chancery Record Books, 1869-1915. Chancery records can be rich sources of genealogical information as they include the records of disputed estate settlements. The US Federal District Court also has Naturalization Records, 1852-1966.

U.S. Federal Circuit Courts 1807-1911

The U.S. Circuit Court Records from 1807-1911 are in Record Group 21 at the Chicago Branch of the NARA. The U.S. Circuit Court Records include 90 volumes of Chancery Record Books, 1828-1911. Chancery records can be rich sources of genealogical information as they include the records of disputed estate settlements.Back to Hamilton County, Ohio

Directories

The PLCH Virtual Library has City Directories for the following years available online: 1819, 1825, 1829, 1831, 1834, 1836-7, 1839-40, 1842,1843, 1846, 1848-1941. “Cincinnati and Hamilton County Directories”[12] gives an excellent analysis of available directories and their use in research. The article includes a detailed accounting of changes in directory listings and contents over time including pointing out directories with unique personal or historical content.Back to Hamilton County, Ohio

History

The Local History Card Catalog at the PLCH is an index of many Hamilton County histories and materials. The name index includes the source name, call number and page where a reference to the individual can be found. Many unusual and rare books are included in the index.

The Cincinnati Historical Society has an index to local histories available online. One of the books indexed is Cist's Sketches and Statistics of Cincinnati in 1851. It is available online. It includes a list of churches and the ministers that year.

Digital Journals is an online collection of journals published by Cincinnati Museum Center, the Cincinnati Historical Society and the Cincinnati Museum of Natural History.

Migration

Military

Civil War

Civil War service men from Hamilton County served in various regiments. Men often joined a company (within a regiment) that originated in their county. Listed below are companies that were specifically formed in Hamilton County:

Probate Records

The Hamilton County Probate Court has digitized and made available many different records types including Estates 1791-1984, Wills 1791-1973, Trusts 1791-1984, Guardianships 1791-1984 and Probate Court Journal Entries 1791-1837. Probate Court Journal Entries have been transcribed in Abstract of Book 1 and Book A, Probate Record 1791-1826; Abstract of Book 3, Probate Record 1829-1834; and Abstract of Book 4, Probate Record, 1834-1837. These books are available on CD through HCGS. The original books are held by the University of Cincinnati Archives - designated as 'Original Entry Books'.

Taxation

Duplicate Tax Records of Hamilton County, Ohio 1816-1838 is available on FHL microfilm and at the Ohio Historical Society. These were copies of the tax records that the Hamilton County auditor sent to the state.

Vital Records

While some 19th century registrations exist, they are incomplete due to lack of compliance and courthouse fires. More complete records are available after mandatory state registration in 1908. See "Hamilton County, Ohio Vital Records,"[14] "Hamilton County Probate Court Records Online at Last!"[15] and "Probate Court Records Update - Indexes to Vital Records"[16] for further information about Hamilton County vital records and their availability.

Records include such information as birth date of deceased, city, county, and state of death, name of spouse if married, names of parents, maiden name of mother, name of informant, if deceased was single, married, widowed or divorced, occupation of deceased.